Tonight, we will close out our study of the book of Philippians. This letter between friends began with a prayer for grace and peace and ends with a blessing of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul started and ended with prayer, thanksgiving and blessing, which shows us that everything in between flowed from and for his love for them and partnership with them. Paul had two great loves, the Lord Jesus and the gospel that turned sinners to saints and so all his love for others was from Jesus and for Jesus and all his friendships were about bringing glory to Jesus and leading others to Jesus. In John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” Discipleship is about following Jesus, about serving Him, proclaiming Him and becoming like Him but we cannot miss the fact that discipleship is also about friendship with the other disciples. Our greatest witness of Jesus to the world around us is our relationships with each other within the singular, universal Body of Christ. Christian friendship is always built on two things, bringing glory to Jesus so that He can lead men to redemption. Our friendships with each other are not about our needs, our desires, our preferences or our things in common, our friendships are from Jesus, they are through Jesus and they are for Jesus. As we finish our study of Philippians we read through Paul’s conclusion, his gratitude for his friends and their gifts to him and his gift to them, the blessing of placing God’s character over their lives. I pray that we will see tonight, as we close out, that when friendship is built on prayer, thanksgiving and blessing it creates refuge, safety and trust for rebuke, correction and instruction.